CD Review: From Halifax, Cousins' "Out On Town"

Cousins is the child of Aaron Mangle, a Haligonian who recorded all of this record on his own. The first comparison which comes to mind here is the slow burning folk/grunge/noise of the Neil Young/Crazy Horse "Down by the River" era - big guitars in slow motion, swirling sounds through ancient amps, mellow drums to keep up the time but not to overwhelm, occasional screaming choruses. Mangle's voice even reminds me of Neil Young - that off kilter semi-falsetto. It's a voice that could be irritating but, like his influences, Mangle nails it well - a perfect antidote to the swirling, crunchy guitars.

But don't think that Cousins simply mimics Young: the sound is subtle and elegant, in ways that Crazy Horse could not achieve, often incorporating more complex and mellow song structures. That is not evident on first listen, but repeated spins will make the point clear. In many ways, the better comparison is Red House Painters' creator Mark Kozelek's work as Sun Kil Moon: more melodic, intricate and thoughtful.

Cousins is at its best when it captures the inherent tension of distorted guitars that are not too loud. In "Out On Town", that tension is always there, when the guitar sound is pushed to its limits but not in the power chord way. Mellow strumming is intense but not over-reaching, always just about to break out into something larger. This is a great style to match the quirky, somewhat surrealistic bent of many of the lyrics. And yet, about 2/3 of the way through the song, the band breaks out into controlled chaos, big drums and cymbals, blended vocals, jangly guitar over pounding chord changes, and then ending with a bottom end distortion. A nice job at a cathartic ending. Best track for sure on this record, and a great way of revealing grace in the midst of a potentially harsh sound.

"Anxious", "Around Their Waists", "Growling" and "Formulas" all share that swirly, distorted guitar sound. "Anxious" expands the sound a bit, with staccato guitar solos interspersed, ending with a particularly raucous collection of notes. "Around Their Waists" takes on a mellower mood, with strummy, almost jangly moments - think late sixties guitar bands on opium, especially in the chorus.

I have to admit being somewhat challenged by the lyrics on the record. It's not clear whether it's just the mix or whether the words are inherently obscure. My guess is the latter, since the overall sound of the CD is great. "Around Their Waists" features plenty of Halifax references, but the lyrical landscape is desolate, with fears about being made to "draw a circle around my friends", and the metaphorical solution of tying a rope around them. Then there's the reference to the cruise ships sailing, bringing and taking "the finest, the finest". This is a brilliant song about being lost in the modern world. "Growling" continues with that theme, this time in the context of a relationship.

"Write Me a Song" continues the Crazy Horse style, but again the lyrics are cryptic. Criticism of hipster musicians who take themselves too seriously? ("Write me a song about bad wine and fast cars, something I can lean into....'cause we don't need no one to tell us what's our name....I don't want to go to your fucking shitty shows. 'Cause this town is in a drought. In this town, I'd rather drown.) Sympathetic attempt to understand a songwriter or someone else? ("Write me a song that comes straight from your world and give it all of those voices in your head and make it swing to the blink of your eyes. And make me wonder aloud what it means to be you."). Both? Who knows! A great track nonetheless.

"Out On Town" also does an excellent job of capturing a mellower mood, often matching a gentle subject matter. This is apparent in "Three Years Old", told from a person with a three year old's perspective, though it's not clear whether that person is three or is like a three year old. "Lullaby" appears to be a throwaway track at 55 seconds, but it also sees the band branching out into Velvet Underground style jangly melodies, with an abrupt ending that makes you want more. "John Schehr 32" is the most stripped down song on the CD, with mostly acoustic guitar and a sombre subject. Again, in this mellower form, the band expands the sound a bit: a few xylophone-like sounds and light guitar round out the end of the song. Both these tracks are somewhat weak, especially given the weight of many of the other tracks. Ironically, they are also the tracks which veer greatest from the record's core strength. That's not a criticism: "Out On Town" clearly shows that Mangle is quite capable of succeeding with those strengths but also build on them in a way which will continue to produce interesting music.

"Memory" is another stand out track: still the same slow, distorted sound, but this one has a much more melodic body, reminding me of some of Daniel Lanois' mellow guitar work. But Mangle is not content staying with that: at the mid-way point a few drum hits/guitar pounds cut through the mellowness, as if to stress the impact of the song's realization: memory's served me well. Perhaps most interesting is the way the lead guitar line mimics and and follows Mangle's voice to a pointed and noticeable effect.

With Cousins, Mangle has done a fantastic job of taking a genre that launched ten thousand garage bands and reworking it in subtle, pretty, and interesting ways. Overall, he maintains grunge's sonic tension but explores nuances which make this more than just a bar band on the hotel circuit. Mangle's voice and cryptic lyrics are perfectly balanced against the raw but melodic guitars - a nice mix which features hope in the midst of chaos. I imagine that these songs would take on an extra dynamic when performed live, which is what Maangle did with a full band last fall.

I had a chance to do a short interview with Aaron Mangle via email. Here's the result:

NxEW: "Listening to the lyrics, I get the sense that loneliness is a theme on this record, and that often gets reflected in the sound as well. Was that your intention? Or did the songs just come out that way? Or do you think the record is just open to that interpretation?"

Mangle: "It was not my intention specifically to write about loneliness, but it is true that a few of the songs were written when I was feeling quite isolated. There is also a fear I have or at least had when writing these songs, that I would be left alone by friends and colleagues in Halifax [since] people leave town a lot. The sound likely reflects that sentiment more than the lyrics, at least intentionally so. I was hoping to use a range of sounds, paces and dynamics to show those tensions. I think that patience and a slower pace that typifies the record allow it to be open to interpretation. There is a lot of optimism and playfulness [on the record], although [it is] not immediately apparent."

NxEW: "You are from Halifax, a city which has had a vibrant music scene - both 'traditional' and 'indie' - for a number of years. Have you benefitted at all from that scene? In what way? Do you have a sense of where it may be going?"

Mangle: "I have no real sense of where the music scene in Halifax is going. The past year has been very good for the local scene, although the past few years in my opinion have been not so good. I benefitted greatly from a wave of good scenes that flourished for a few years and kind of died in 2006. We had a handful of venues close and some of the coolest bands either break up or leave town that year and it was hard to be around and watch that happen. However, those frustrations inspired me to start writing and playing more - anger and loneliness do that. In the past year some really great stuff has come out of Halifax : Room Doom, York Redoubt, Bad Vibrations, Cold Warps, Jon Mckiel, Ghost Bees, Husband and Knife, Construction and Destruction."

NxEW: "Hailing from the East Coast, I assume your local live opportunities are limited by population sizes and travel to venues. I know you've come through Ottawa recently. How important is touring to you? What are the biggest challenges getting out on the road in this huge country? What do you enjoy about it?"

Mangle: "Touring is very important when you're from the east because there is a very limited number of cities and venues to play. It's also quite expensive to get to areas of the country that are worthwhile touring in....no, I'll put it this way, Canada is a terrible place for touring. There is nothing I'd rather do than tour, but we in Canada have terrible infrastructure for bands to travel and perform in. We have yet to tour past Ontario and we're really looking forward to it. We just need to bite the bullet and do a bigger tour. I guess the challenge is money. With money it's not hard for folks to just go for it and drive all around all the time, but we don't have [the money to do that]. Now that we've toured as a band, it's hard to imagine playing or touring solo.

NxEW: "Tell us about the recording process for your record, 'Out on Town'". How did touring with band affect the songs?

Mangle: "The most interesting process was that the record was written and recorded without a band. The songs were arranged in the studio and the decision to form a band actually came after the record was finished. Since finishing the record, forming the band and touring the songs have changed dramatically. I was extremely happy to form a band with some musicians/friends who I always wanted to play with. Dallin and I had been playing for a while in a band under his leadership call Crowd Power, Andy played with Museum Pieces who were very inspiring to me, and Pat plays with Room Doom who slay. The songs are much better now, heavier, more fun, more intense."

NxEW: "What's next? Another record? Tour? Both?"

Mangle: "Well the band continues to change [with] some moving around. We've done a string of two piece shows around the east coast, we're lucky to be able to adjust what instruments we play depending on who's around. we're doing some recording now, mostly at home, and making some music videos, also at home. We're planning a tour for the spring, likely in March and April, and we're hoping to line some things up overseas and in the States."


Well there you have it - thanks to Aaron Mangle for taking the time to answer my questions. Here's a clip from Talk Show Night at Juice Box Manor: